In this flashback episode, high-school student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and is granted amazing abilities. Seeing an opportunity to use his new powers for his own gain, Peter shirks his responsibilities and soon faces the dire consequences of his actions.
This episode provides examples of:
- And This Is for...: Peter delivers one right before he punches Uncle Ben's killer across several rooms:Spider-Man: This is for the man you killed!
- Death by Origin Story: Peter's uncle Ben is shot by a man who broke into their house. Peter tracks the thief down, only to realize it's the same thief he refused to stop while visiting the television studio.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Peter gets into a fight with a couple of bikers shortly after he's been bitten by the spider. During the fight, Peter snaps the lamppost behind him in two as he swings his arm back for a punch.
- In a Single Bound: Spider-Man's well-known for his jumping abilities, but Peter takes it up a notch on his first try. Peter leaps out of the way right before he's hit by a car and ends up jumping as high as a skyscraper.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: A couple of bikers attack Peter when he accidentally bumps into one of them, but they soon realize they're outmatched when he knocks down a lamppost without even trying.Biker: Let's get out of here, pal. This cat's a tiger!
- My God, What Have I Done?: Peter learns that the man who killed Uncle Ben was the same one he let run right past him without even trying to stop him. He's heartbroken once he realizes he's partially responsible for Ben's death.Peter: If only I'd tackled him when I had the chance! But I didn't, so he escaped and now... Uncle Ben is dead. Yes, Uncle Ben is dead and in a sense it's really I who killed him, because I didn't realize in time that with great power there must also always be great responsibility.
- Origins Episode: After a full season dedicated to showing Spider-Man fighting criminals, season two starts by taking a look out how Peter got his powers and decided to take up crime-fighting.
- Radiation Induced Superpower: A spider is irradiated during a nuclear demonstration and ends up biting Peter, transferring its abilities directly to him. As the theme song puts it, now Peter's got "radioactive blood".
- Shout-Out: Peter briefly muses how his powers would be perfect to show off on The Ed Sullivan Show.
- Theme Music Power-Up: While the theme song often plays as an instrumental throughout the series, the full song with lyrics plays as Peter dons his costume to track down Uncle Ben's killer.
- Tyop on the Cover: The title card for the episode does not include the hyphen in Spider-Man's name, spelling it out as one word instead.
- What the Hell, Hero?: One of the police officers calls out Spider-Man for letting a thief get away from them when he could've easily stopped him.Officer: "What's with you, mister? All you had to do was trip him or hold him for a minute!"Spider-Man: "That's your problem, not mine! Sorry pal, I'm through being pushed around! From now on I look out for number one! And that means me!"
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: It wouldn't be a Spider-Man story if Peter never learned this lesson, as his refusal to help others with his new powers leads to his Uncle Ben getting shot by a thief he let get away.
